Blog: Toseland, race 2

Even after two times standing on the grid I’m still not used to it. I’m helping prepare the bike that just took James Toseland to a home podium.

After the frantic dash to collect up everything and clear the grid so the race can start it’s back to the garage and glued to the screens in the hope that it’s not as dramatic as the first race madness.

James gets a better start this time and everyone relaxes as he fights his way up to third place again. In race one he could have fought for the lead if only there were a few more laps but this time out he’s not able to match the pace of Haga and Bayliss.

But two podiums is nothing to complain about and no-one seems worried especially as the team has just won the supersport race with Sebastien Charpentier.

We all rushed down to the winners enclosure to celebrate but were left waiting for ages as James stripped on the track and threw his kit in to the crowd.

He rode in to the ring in just his pants but he couldn’t go on the podium dressed like so off came the trousers of chief mechanic Kor who was left to walk back to the pits in an embarrassingly small set of briefs.

Click next to continue

Continued from page 1

With both races over the work is far from finished for the team. By 7pm the garage is cleared and packed away and then it’s on to the hospitality area. By 9pm all that’s left is enough of a tent to feed the crew and give them breakfast in the morning before heading back to base.

There’s a month until the next round but everyone will be busy, all the data from the weekend needs analysing in detail and new strategies developed from what is learnt. There’s a Pirelli tyre test scheduled at Brno and Ten Kate is a Pirelli R&D team so they’ll have plenty of new tyres to play with.

What an amazing weekend this has been. Seeing behind the scenes in one of the world best teams and seeing just what it takes to run a race team is incredible. From standing around on Saturday waiting for the rain to stop to the frantic rush to get the bike prepped for the restarted race one it has been a rollercoaster ride and one I feel very privileged to have experienced.

Check back on Wednesday, May 31 for a special video MCN Podcast download dedicated to Toseland and his team.